Freshkills Park

At 2,200 acres, Freshkills Park will be almost three times the size of Central Park and the largest park developed in New York City in over 100 years. Formerly the world’s largest landfill, this enormous park will one day hold a variety of public spaces and facilities, including playgrounds, athletic fields, kayak launches, horseback riding trails, large-scale art installations, and much more. The park is being built, and is scheduled to be opened in phases, through 2036.

The Freshkills Park Alliance supports the development of Freshkills Park, the growth of on-site research and education, guided tours, the arts, and recreational programming. Visit the Freshkills Park Alliance website for more information.

Visit

You can get a preview of the site through tours and events, including kayaking and birding.

Progress

Schmul Park

This perimeter park has handball and basketball courts as well as a colorful playground with plenty of climbing equipment. It opened in September 2012. Learn more.

Owl Hollow Fields

Owl Hollow Fields, located on Arthur Kill Road, opened in May 2013. The fields consist of four soccer fields, a pathway, parking, and lawn space. A Park House will be added as part of an ongoing construction project.

New Springville Greenway (In Construction)

This 3.3 mile bike path will wind along the eastern edge of Freshkills Park, paralleling Richmond Avenue. It is expected to be complete in summer 2015.

North Park Phase 1 (In Design)

North Park, now in the first phase of development, will be a 21-acre swath of land connecting visitors to views of Main Creek and the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge via divided walking and high speed paths that lead past seven acres of native seed plots. You can follow the development progress of North Park using the NYC Parks Capital Project Tracker.

Park Features

Programming

Freshkills Park will host many types of social, cultural, and recreational activities, including horseback riding, mountain biking, kayaking, and large-scale public art.

Wildlife

Freshkills Park supports richly diverse habitats for wildlife, birds and plant communities, and provides extraordinary natural settings for recreation. Since the landfill was closed, more than 200 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians have been sighted at Freshkills Park. A bird observation tower will be built in the northern end of the park for those wanting to get a closer look at those flying by.

Public Health and Safety at Freshkills Park

Ensuring the health and safety of visitors to Freshkills Park is our highest priority. The Department of Sanitation has established state-of-the-art environmental controls on the site, making it a model for cities around the world for land reclamation and reuse.

The park’s mounds are being capped with an impermeable plastic liner and eight additional layers of barrier material to separate the ground we touch and the landfill beneath it. There are several systems in place to manage the landfill gas and leachate byproducts – some are visible, such as the white stacks of the Flare Stations, but most are invisible, such as the extensive network of piping and drainage channels.

The site is regulated and overseen by government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels to ensure that the quality of its air, water, and soil are at safe levels for the public to enjoy the park now and in the future. Read more about the landfill engineering on the Freshkills Park Alliance website.

Public Review

From the beginning of the Parks Master Planning process, through the ongoing development and build out of each part of the park, the environmental and public review process continues. Visit the Public Review of Freshkills Park page for an archive of public review documents.

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